if you change the treble cap in the tone stack to 1000pF...

JimmyR · Post by **JimmyR** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 6:06 am

What happens? I did in fact just do this in a '68 1987 clone and it seems to have made the whole amp sound bigger. I haven't the faintest idea why, but so far I like it. I'm not 100% certain that it was just the cap change as I changed a tube at the same time.

What's going on?

novosibir · Post by **novosibir** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 6:17 am

Much more high mids and the mid dip in the frequence curve went down.

I personally don't like this kind of roaring sound.

Larry

JimmyR · Post by **JimmyR** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 7:31 am

Actually I made a mistake - I did this in my 2204 sort-of 50watter. I'm not changing my 1987!

I'll try it again tomorrow and see if I still like it.

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:58 am

That is the value Dumble amps use for the mid boost switch. They just have that treble cap at 1000p. I like it in fender amps but its a bit too much in marshalls

JimmyR · Post by **JimmyR** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 1:49 am

I dunno - I kinda like it. I may make it into something I can switch on and off. I guess I could just leave the 500pF cap there and switch another 500pF cap in in parallel. I'm not using a tone of gain and it seems to help the amp come to life. Everything just seems bigger and I like it.

JimmyR · Post by **JimmyR** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:15 am

OK - for anyone who cares (!). I just spent some time comparing my 1987 which is one of my all-time favourite amps with the 2204-ish head with the 1000pF treble cap. I am finding that the two amps sound more alike now in a wierd way. Normally the non-MV amp always sounds fatter but now the MV amp holds up well against it. There is an element of "taming the beast" about it which I love!

The guitars are a CS 50's Tele and a "Fat-neck" 335. The 2204 is a bit different from Marshall's circuit - it has .1PS caps, a 68K input resistor instead of the 470K/470pF, a 4K7 V1 cathode resistor and no bright caps. It sounds now the closest I have had to the tone in my head. As I said earlier, I don't use a lot of gain. Usually gain is around 12.00 o'clock which is just starting to bite on my amp.

Usually 2203/4 amps sound a bit thinner to me than the non-MVs. I don't like the PPIMVs that I have tried - there's something about Marshall's MV that I really like. So now I have the punch and "kerraaaanggg" I like in the 2204 but also a lot more body to the tone. I doubt it's the tone for everyone but so far I am really enjoying it!

Now all I have to do is work out how to get more guts to the tone if master is below halfway... Why do you always lose bottom end when the master is turned down??